FourFromFoodFridays

The highlight of my recent trip to Paris to play at the Ping Pong 20th anniversary party was a trip to the Pompidou Centre to bask in the first major Victor Vasarely retrospective. A comprehensive overview of his work was on display, from earliest experiments through to his breakthrough op art achievements. Whilst a lot of his large scale work wasn’t present there were some 300 pieces to admire including paintings, sculpture, ceramics, prints, logos, textiles and more. The final room was particularly good with very low light and excellent lighting that picked out the paintings in a glow that seemed to make them radiate and become even more three dimensional. The level of skill and draughtsmanship on display was incredible and I’d highly recommend a day trip over before it finishes in May, the book shop at the end is something else too, take lots of money and a strong bag is all I can say!

I’m playing catch up after getting a new computer and all the hassle that entails so forgive me because this exhibition has already passed. Augustine Kofie‘s first solo show in London was at the Stolen Space gallery in East London this February. He’s already had work featured as part of group shows over the years but this is his first one-man outing. Shown are a selection of his collage pieces including details. These formed only a small part of the work as there were some newer pieces that seek to achieve the same effect as these but solely with paint. This was a new direction that I’d not seen before and, while technically brilliant, they seemed to lack something that these works contain. Maybe the layering, textures and grit is what I like in his work, the sampling of old material to build the structures he makes, but the newer painting held less for me than these assemblages. The show may be over but Stolen Space have a print availableif you’d like a souvenir of his visit to these shores as well as some originals if you have deep pockets.

The new Sister Corita Kent exhibition has been on at the House of Illustration in Kings X now for a month, expanded from the version shown in Ditchling last year. It’s still small but packed with lots of beautiful prints, books, posters and ephemera that she created during her lifetime both in and outside of the church. I urge you to go and see these beautiful prints in the flesh and pick up a free copy of her ‘rules’ taken from an art department classroom.

Hats off to Electronic Sound magazine for their next issue cover, the best looking (and smelling) magazine about electronic music celebrates all that is European. For anyone outside the UK reading this, the UK has descended into madness, more than half of us don’t want to leave the European Union, and most of the British people never gave it a second thought until a minority of Tory MPs decided that the new EU tax laws would threaten their bank balances thus forcing a weak Prime Minister’s hand into calling an advisory referendum on something few fully understood, either inside or outside of Parliament. The British people have been duped by the 1% and the right wing press while the supposed ‘opposition’ party has done anything but. Two days after we leave is April 1st – April Fool’s Day in the UK – but our country has become an international joke, due to lose much more than we would ever gain by leaving the EU. Rant over

Colourise.sg colours black and white photos via a deep learning programme. Here are a few results I tried (including one colour photo of a B&W photo). It’s apparently better with human figures and landscapes and is only planned to be available on the web temporarily as it is the result of a hackathon from Singapore. More info

A new Pepe Deluxe record is always a reason to get excited, and this beauty goes in sale this Friday. Just a one-sided 7″ but look at it, all 60 copies will be lathe cut (!). The new song accompanies an original Graphic Novel by Josh Frank, published by Quirk Books and based on a screenplay by Salvador Dalí for The Marx Brothers – a lost un-filmed classic from the masters of the bizarre: Giraffes on Horseback Salad. No sale links yet as the site isn’t ready.
Notes from the press release:

• This is a single but it is not a single
• Official Theme Song for a Graphic Novel adaptation of the Salvador Dalí and The Marx Brothers film “Giraffes On Horseback Salad”
• Limited 60 hand cut 7”, hand signed clear vinyl with gatefold artwork
• International book tour to support release of the Graphic Novel
• Video directed, filmed and animated by Maria Candia aka Taru N. Hohtonen
• Features Harpo Marx’s original harp and horn

Out today: #2 of 10 projected releases I’ve designed the artwork for as the De:tuned label celebrates their first 10 years. One release a month, multiple combinations of great artists coming up across nine 12″s whose covers fit together to form a larger image, with a tenth remix 12″ to finish things off.

I was going to post about Record Store Day releases last week when the list was announced but wanted to wait for the announcement above as well. For once I’m heading to North London, after spending years down South or in the West End… to Audio Gold, those fine purveyors of vintage audio equipment, hi-fi components and records, old and new. My good friend Robin from Hexstatic has worked there for many years and has been trying to get Jonny Trunk and I up there for nearly as long.

Jonny will be promoting his RSD release on Trunk, the official reissue of Basil Kirchin‘s ‘World’s Within Worlds’, by playing original reels from Basil’s archive via one of the shop’s lovely machines no doubt. I’ll be joined by fellow flexi finder Shane Quentin who, along with Jonny and I, has contributed to the forthcoming book, ‘Wobbly Sounds’ which is all about British flexi discs. Shane’s collection of the disposable discs is enough to make any collector envious and between us we pulled out some sweet examples of the different uses they had from household product advertising to pop music promotion, event invites to educational aids, and yes, porn.

The book is published by those lovely people at Four Corners Books and forms part of their Irregulars series of Great British oddities, I don’t think I’m allowed to show you the cover yet though as it’s not online. Hopefully copies will be back from the printers and available at Audio Gold for April 13th. We’ll be playing some of our collections in the shop and I’m even going to hide some freebies in the racks for people to find…

Now – to my RSD ones to watch list – if your pockets are deep enough of course:

808 State – Four States of 808 (ZTT) 4×12″ box set

Limited edition 4 x 12″ box set exploring four very different sides of 808 State; Hacienda-inspired acid house classics, Thunderdome-inspired full-frontal aural assaults, renowned collaborations, and downtempo sonic baths. Featuring 27 tracks across four discs, including rare and previously unreleased mixes, hidden tracks, brand new artwork and liner notes. Includes three previously unreleased tracks and three previously unreleased on vinyl. The entire set is remastered from the original master tapes.

Art of Noise – Daft As A Brush! (ZTT) 4×12″ box set

Limited edition 4 x 12″ box set and a vinyl companion piece to the renowned 1986 CD compilation, Daft. Hear a fresh take on three game-changing records – ‘Beat Box’, ‘Close (to the Edit)’ and‘ Moments in Love’ – while a fourth disc finally unleashes Trevor Horn and Paul Morley‘s mythical post-AoN project, Art and ACT. Featuring 25 tracks across four discs, including hidden tracks, brand new artwork and liner notes. 20 tracks previously unreleased on vinyl with the entire set remastered from the original master tapes.

Basil Kirchin – Worlds Within Worlds (Trunk) LP

Worlds Within Worlds (Part I and II) is one of the most important improvised jazz-based recordings of all time. Released in 1971 it sold just a handful of copies, but has become a keystone in the development of experimental and ambient sounds – originals now fetch £1000+. This pressing features a new gatefold sleeve (Kirchin hated the original sleeve), with images of Kirchin, his original field recording tapes and notes by WWW fan Thurston Moore. There are just 1500 being pressed with 250 on gold vinyl, which will be mixed randomly in with the 1250 black versions. There will be no way of telling which colour is which as all LPs will be sealed. The LP will not be repressed.

LP Colored Vinyl (Red/Blue Swirl on Multiplication Rock). 1st ever reissue, from the original master tapes. 1500 total worldwide. Original ABC 1973 TV soundtrack, part of the Schoolhouse Rock! Series. Jazz Bop Vocalist Bob Dorough (1923-2018) composed “Multiplication Rock” as a way for children to remember multiplicaton tables. Colored Vinyl LP from The Original Master Tapes with original Tape Box artwork. includes ‘Three Is A Magic Number’, as sampled by De La Soul.

Deadly Avenger – Your God Is Too Small (Burning Witches) LP

More sonic electro infused speaker decimation from Deadly Avenger in a brand new follow up to 2018′ s ‘I Am Godzilla You Are Japan’. ‘Your God Is Too Small’ picks up the DA Godzilla story from the very begining in a prequel to IAGYAJ. Includes 3D artwork and glasses, Insert, and download card. UK Exclusive variant. Artwork by Luke Insect.

Future Sound of London, The – Yage 2019

In 1996 iconic group The Future Sound of London released the UK Top 40 chart album ‘Dead Cities’, from which came a track ‘Yage’. Such has been the interest in this masterpiece of electronica over the years that the guys have been back into the studio to revisit it. Here, on this limited edition, individually numbered LP press exclusively for 2019′ s Record Store Day comes the results. ‘Yage 2019’ takes the core of the original and rebuilds it. All together there are eleven tracks reconstructions and interpretations, woven together (as FSOL do) into a 42 minute dreamscape journey across the 2 sides of vinyl. Only 1000 copies of this release will be pressed on vinyl.

Herbie Hancock – Dedication (Get On Down) LP

Vinyl has never been officially issued outside of Japan. 3000 made worldwide. ‘Dedication’ is a unique Herbie Hancock outing in more ways than one. This is a solo Hancock release, all sounds heard on this recording are Hancock at the keyboards, be it an acoustic piano, a Fender Rhodes or a synth. The project was recorded live in Tokyo in July of 1974 and never saw release outside of Japan until well into the 21st century. For Record Store Day 2019 Get On Down presents the first ever US vinyl release of this important piece of Hancock’ s artistic legacy.

Worth it for ‘Nobu’alone, no poster though!?

Propaganda – The Eight Testaments of Propaganda (ZTT) 4×12″ box set

This limited edition 4 x 12″ box set dives deep into the hits and mythology of Propaganda‘ s highly influential ZTT years. Take a fresh look at their two biggest singles – ‘Duel’ and ‘Dr. Mabuse’ – and their two most beloved live/album tracks, ‘Dream Within A Dream’ and ‘Frozen Faces’ . Featuring 24 tracks across four discs, including rare and previously unreleased mixes, brand new artwork and liner notes. Includes two tracks previously unreleased, and 13 tracks previously unreleased on vinyl. The entire set is remastered from the original master tapes.

Wendy Carlos /Rachel Elkind – Kubrick (Silva Screen) 7″

7″ Die Cut Sleeve/ Printed Inner Sleeve Transparent Orange Vinyl Double A Side: The Shining/ A Clockwork OrangeFor both these iconic films, Stanley Kubrick chose to work with the extraordinary Wendy Carlos, who wrote (or realised, as both are based on classical pieces) the main themes to both movies. The 7″ AA Side, March from A Clockwork Orange(1971), is an arrangement of Beethoven‘ s rousing Symphony No. 9 in D Minor(fourth movement) and is the first recorded song using a vocoder. Almost ten years later, Carlos was to work with Kubrick again on The Shining (1980). The Shining – Main Theme on the 7″ A side takes as its starting point the Dies Irae from Hector Berlioz‘ s Requiem (Op5), appropriately taken to new levels of darkness by Carlos and Rachel Elkind‘ s electronic treatment.

I’m doing a special gig in Paris on March 15th – DJing on a mega line up to celebrate 20 years of Ping Pong, the promotion agency headed by Fred/Jais Elalouf aka DJ Oof of Cinemix fame who has worked with Ninja Tune for two decades now. Oof is also the collector and curator of the Psychedelic Art Centre and there will be an exhibition of works featured for six weeks to launch the special issue of Perfect Bliss, the new Graph Zine and review which comes with stereoscopic glasses for 3D.

According to Sesame Street, who celebrate their 50th anniversary this year, Walt Kramer‘s ‘Pinball Number Count’(featuring the Pointer Sisters on vocals) debuted today 43 years ago in Season 8 of the show. To celebrate they’ve made an online pinball game version that you can play here.

Of course Ninja Tune were the first label to release the track on vinyl back in 2003, on the B side of the Larry Levan remix of ‘C Is For Cookie’, which I also had the pleasure of designing the sleeve for.

The BFI are showing Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange again and have commissioned a new poster and trailer for the occasion, I think it’s the 50th anniversary this year? Not sure of the designer here but beautiful homage is paid to Philip Castle‘s classic original poster.

I have to say, I didn’t see this coming and, while I welcome any new (official) merch with Rick Griffin artwork on it, I’m not sure what the connection with Dr Martens is? Two boots, two T-shirts and a rucksack feature both colour and B&W artwork by Griffin from his 70s heyday including plenty of flying eyeballs. The boots are around £140 and the T’s £30, available now online or in Dr Marten stores.

I was very saddened to hear of Ken Nordine‘s passing today at the the age of nearly 100, my consolations go out to his family. I was first introduced to his amazing voice via a Rhino Records CD compilation of the best of his Word Jazz albums that Mixmaster Morris played me back in 1993 and I instantly became a fan. Finding his records and any info on him in the pre-internet / pre-eBay days was difficult but the excellent ‘Incredibly Strange Music vol. II‘ book held a fascinating interview with him about his career so far. Upon first traveling to the US in the mid 90s, his records were top of my wants list and I managed to find copies of most of his catalogue before hoovering up more in the early 00’s via eBay.

PC and I were privileged to record a version of his piece, ‘The Ageing Young Rebel’, with him back in 2000 for our album, ‘Kaleidoscope’ and it remains one of my favourite collaborations from that time. Over 20 years ago I interviewed him for Solid Steel at Coldcut‘s Ahead Of Our Time studios near London Bridge whilst he was in London playing the voice of God in a Laurie Anderson play – he was cast perfectly. During the interview he was funny, playful, humble and extremely on the ball, at one point striking up a dialogue with the squeaky chair he was sitting on. RIP Ken – you were unique, so glad we met. Listen to our interview below

The line up for this summer’s Delaware Roadevent at a secret army base in Wiltshire is finally confirmed and Buried Treasure – the label run by Alan Gubby who set up the gig – is dripping out performer names and info over the next few weeks. I’ll add them as they appear – Collect the set! This will not be like any other festival you attend this year. A new dedicated website explains all and there is a bus service you can book to get you to the venue.
Tickets are available here

Out today: #1 of 10 projected releases I’ve designed the artwork for the De:tuned label as they celebrate their first 10 years. One release a month, multiple combinations of great artists coming up across nine 12″s whose covers fit together to form a larger image, with a tenth remix 12″ to finish things off.

One of the reasons it’s been so quiet on here this year is because I’ve had my head in the video editing suite for this Saturday’s premiere of my new AV show; Kraftwerk: Klassics, Kovers & Kurios. I’ll be taking this up to Manchester for its initial outing, at The Deaf Institute, who have previously hosted my other AV sets (why should London have all the good stuff first?). Tickets are available here

The show (at the moment) is very dance-orientated with the obvious techno, electro styles accompanied by hip hop, samba, breaks, mash ups and maybe a bit of juke if I can make it fit. Above is a tiny excerpt from one track where I got a bit carried away. The show takes the band’s various eras, looks and line ups and combines them into a 60 track, 90 min+ collage of Teutonic Techno, European Electro & Kraut Crunk together with the visual history of the group. I’ve really dug around for old archive for this one, which is hard on the older material as there is so little and in bad quality but I’ve been collecting this stuff since the early ’00s so have a fair bit. Below are some screen grabs of an Italian performance of Pocket Calculatorwhere the cameraman really wanted to know what they were playing.